20cm (8in) shallow square baking tin or silicone pan
Put the butter and chocolate into a large bowl placed over a saucepan of just-simmering water (making sure the base of the bowl does not touch the water) and heat, stirring occasionally until the butter and chocolate are melted and smoothly combined. Remove from the heat and leave to cool to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/gas 3. Grease the baking tin with a little butter and line with baking parchment or place the silicone pan on a baking tray. Put the eggs and sugar into a large bowl and whisk together until the mixture is a pale colour and has doubled in volume, about 8 minutes. Pour the cooled chocolate mixture into the egg and sugar mix and fold together.
Sift the flour and cocoa powder into the bowl and fold in gently, then fold in the chopped nuts and diced fudge. Spoon the mixture into the baking tin or pan and gently level.
Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until the brownie is just set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool a little in the tin or pan before turning out and cutting into 12 rectangles. Serve either hot or cold.
Mix together the passata, balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard powder, garlic, smoked paprika, sweetener and season well to make the BBQ sauce.
Cook the onions, peppers and mushrooms in a frying pan until softened. Add the chicken and bacon and cook until chicken thoroughly cooked.
Boil your pasta for about 10 minutes until softened but not fully cooked.
Add the pasta, BBQ sauce, chicken, bacon and vegetables together and then pour into a baking dish.
Cook for 15 minutes in the oven.
Sprinkle the cheese over the top and return to oven until the cheese is melted.
So here is a delicious healthy lasagna recipe for you to try. It is cooked with the Slimming World plan in mind, but I'm not a consultant so please check all syn values yourself if you are unsure. The cheese used is the equivalent of your HEX A portion per person, if not it would be 6 syns.
Ingredients
500g lean beef mince (5% fat or less)
1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 courgette, cut into bite-sized cubes
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed (or 1 tsp of garlic granules)
400g can chopped tomatoes
400g passata
2 tsp dried mixed herbs
Low calorie cooking spray
500g fat free natural yogurt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
A pinch of nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 dried lasagne sheets
160g reduced-fat cheddar cheese
Place a large frying pan over a high heat. Add the beef mince, red pepper, courgettes, onion and garlic and stir-fry for 6-8 minutes. Add the tomatoes, passata and dried herbs, season and cook for 12-15 minutes.
Meanwhile mix together the yogurt, eggs and nutmeg until smooth and season.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas 6. Spray a medium-sized lasagna dish with low calorie cooking spray. Spoon half the mince mixture into the base and top with half of the lasagna sheets. Spread over half of the yogurt mixture and top with the remaining mince mixture. Top with the remaining lasagna sheets, spread over the remaining yogurt mixture and sprinkle over the cheese.
Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
There's an annual tradition at the library I work at, the University Librarian invites all of the library staff over to her house and cooks dinner for us all. She asks that we all bring a favourite dessert to share. This is the first year since I've started at this library that I've decided to go to this party. So tonight I made my dessert for it, I'm taking an apple cinnamon bread pudding. I was originally going to write the last Jingle Bell tag post tonight but making the bread pudding took so long that I'm too tired to write about my favourite couples so I decided to post a photo of my bread pudding and the recipe instead!
1 loaf of crusty bread, cubed (with the ends removed) [You can use white, whole wheat or a mixture of both]
1 cup green apple, peeled and diced [approx. 1 medium sized Granny Smith apple will do]
3 Tbsp raisins
2 egg yolks
2 whole eggs
⅓ cup cinnamon sugar [2 parts sugar to 1 part cinnamon]
1 ¼ cup whipping cream
1 cup milk
tsp vanilla extract
4 Tbsp Irish cream (optional)
extra cinnamon sugar, for sprinkling over the top
maple syrup, for glazing
Directions
Preheat your oven to 350° F.
Brush the bottom and sides of a 9-inch square baking dish [I use the aluminium kind so I don't have to worry about bringing a dish home after a potluck] with half of the melted butter.
Mix bread cubes, apples and raisins together with remaining melted butter and scoop the mixture into your baking dish.
Whisk together 2 egg yolks, 2 whole eggs and your cinnamon mixture sugar [If you'd rather mix the Irish cream in here instead of drizzling it over the top give it a go - we plan to next time] in a second bowl. Mix in the cream, milk and vanilla.
Pour the wet mixture over the bread cube mixture in the baking dish and press down gently on bread to help soak in.
Let stand for about 15 minutes. If you wish, drizzle Irish cream over the top layer.
Place baking dish in a water bath so that water comes about halfway up the side of your baking dish and sprinkle your remaining cinnamon sugar over the top layer.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the center of the pudding springs back when pressed.
Remove baking dish from water bath. Brush maple syrup over surface of pudding while still warm.
This dessert is best served warm but it does also work well when baked the night before a potluck event.
I have long been a fan of Italian cuisine. I remember as a young girl my parents used to take my sister and I to a little Italian restaurant called Pizzeria Mamma Mia in Southport. I can't remember why we stopped going but we did visit regularly at one point. And I do believe the restaurant is still there although I imagine it has changed a bit since I was there.
There has always been something about the right blend of meat or fish, vegetables and herbs that the Italians have perfected and I have to confess I do love my carbs in the form of pasta and garlic bread. Fortunately there are many Italian dishes that are quite simple to cook although my culinary prowess is not up to the Italian standards. However it is good enough for myself and my family and friends.
Being on a healthy eating plan means I have to get creative. Pizza for example is not particularly healthy and despite trying many different forms, there just isn't a suitable alternative that tastes as good. So I have to limit these to occasional treats and take the calorie hit.
A lot of Italian food though is ideal for healthy living, the Italians use a lot of vegetables in their cooking, especially tomatoes which are perfect for healthier recipes. Many diets recommending opting for a tomato based sauce dish over a creamy one if you are watching the calories. Spaghetti Bolognese is one of my favourite dishes as it combines all the above and making sure you use low fat mince, it's a simple dish to create.
Garlic is an ingredient that features prominently in Italian dishes and fortunately I love garlic, both the taste and the smell. Bad news for any vampires circling the flat but great news for my Italian tastebuds. The Italians are also fond of aromatic herbs such as basil and oregano and again these feature heavily in Italian recipes.
The Italians tend to cook using Olive Oil which again makes the dishes healthier than using lard or animal fats and is quite commonly used throughout the Mediterranean.
There are some recipes however, that need to be adapted to make them healthy. Italians are very fond of creamy or cheesy dishes so the trick is to find an alternative that tastes as good but is less in calories. I'm going to share with you my recipe for Spaghetti Carbonara, finding a low calorie alternative for the creamy sauce.
Buon appetito!
You will need :-
Spaghetti
Bacon
Peppers
Onions
Mushrooms
2 Garlic cloves
80g Primula Light Cheese Spread
Cook the spaghetti as per pack instructions.
Fry the bacon in a pan then add the onions, peppers, garlic and mushrooms. Fry gently until cooked and then add some water, just to cover the top of the vegetables and add the Primula Light and mix in thoroughly to make a creamy sauce. Then add the spaghetti to the frying pan and season with salt and black pepper and serve.
Angie here again. So the topic of diets and calorie counting comes up where I work on a daily basis. I am on a team which consists primarily of women and it's inevitable that the subject of food and weight is alluded to. I know of at least four people on Slimming World, of which I am one. A couple are just watching their weight but not actively dieting. Plus there are many more around the office in other teams who follow various plans and diets.
So whenever the subject arises, there is usually the debate over sweet vs savoury. What's the thing you hate giving up most when dieting? For a lot of people it's chocolate and cakes etc, the sweet group. But I would say for just as many its the savoury side such as crisps and pastry etc.
I, for one fall into the latter category. Ask me to give up chocolate and it's no problem, I don't even crave it and would happily walk past a Mars Bar without blinking. But ask me to give up crisps and I'll turn into the Incredible Hulk. I could never and would never give up savoury snacks for any diet and the beauty of Slimming World is that I don't have to, I only have to limit the amount I eat. Moderation is the key.
But for all you sweet toothed lovelies out there, here is my (NON SW) recipe for Rocky Road
You will need :-
300g dark chocolate
100g milk chocolate
4 tbsps golden syrup
150g butter
175g digestive biscuits
150g macademia nuts
150g pink & white mini marshamallows
23cm (9in) square baking tin
1. Line the baking tin with clingfilm
2. Put the plain chocolate and milk chocolate into a large saucepan and add the golden syrup and butter. Place over a low heat and heat gently, stirring constantly, until all the ingredients have melted. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly.
3. Crush the biscuits into small pieces and then roughly chop the macademia nuts. Add them to the saucepan with the mini marshmallows and stir until well mixed. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and refrigerate for at least 2 hours until the chocolate has set. Cut the rocky road into small bite sized squares to serve.
Hi everyone, Angie here. Taking my cue from Lauren as always, following on from her regular series of Monday Musings, I would like to present Tasty Tuesdays. This is my weekly blog post all based on the subject of food. We all have a relationship with food in whatever form that relationship takes. I, for one, enjoy the wrong kinds of food and I enjoy them far too much. But I am trying to change that currently, however I won't bore you with the details of that, at least not today.
Today I would like to introduce you to one of my all time favourite lunches for work which is a healthy take on the popular Chinese takeaway dish, Special Fried Rice. Special Fried Rice consists of fried rice (no, really?!?) mixed with various vegetables and a mixture of meats. Most Chinese takeaway restaurants serve many Fried Rice dishes, such as chicken, beef, char sui etc but the Special combines all the meats together and this has to be my favourite dish from a takeaway. I would say I order it 9 times out of 10 on the occasions we order takeaway which isn't all that often any more, weight issues and the economy being what they are.
However, my weight loss group came up with a new and healthy version which is so surprisingly simple that I would say anyone could make it. So just for you, here's my recipe but the beauty of this recipe is that any of the ingredients can be switched out if you don't like them and the results will be just as tasty. But here below is my favourite and most cooked version.
